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 The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Rochelle Walensky, signed off on the expanded eligibility on Friday
evening after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration broadened its
authorization of booster doses to all adults who had received their
second shot of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna Inc vaccine at
least six months prior.
Regulators had previously authorized boosters for all recipients of
Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine, two months after their primary
dose.
"Booster shots have demonstrated the ability to safely increase
people’s protection against infection and severe outcomes and are an
important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the
virus as we enter the winter holidays," Walensky said in a
statement.
Most adults were already eligible for the additional shots, but
fewer than 18% had received one, according to CDC data. But many
public health officials felt the previous eligibility requirements
were too complicated.
"The current guidelines - though well intentioned and thoughtful -
generate an obstacle to uptake of boosters. In pursuit of precision,
they create confusion," said Nirav Shah, a top Maine public health
official and president of the Association of State and Territorial
Health Officials.
"Our concern is that eligible individuals are not receiving boosters
right now," Shah said.
According to an agency spokesperson, the CDC stopped short of saying
all adults should get a booster. For those aged 18 to 49, the agency
said individuals may get the vaccine if they choose to.
The CDC also moved to further clarify recommendations for people
aged 50 to 64, suggesting all in this age group should get a
booster, rather than only those with underlying medical conditions
that put them at risk.
The agency's guidelines mirrored recommendations unanimously backed
by a panel of CDC advisers earlier in the day.
CASES ON THE RISE
After about two months of declining infections, the United States
has reported daily increases for the past two weeks, driven by the
more easily transmitted Delta variant of the virus and people
spending more time indoors due to colder weather.
[to top of second column] |
 Dr. Eric Topol, director of the
Scripps Research Translational Institute in La
Jolla, California, said the guidance did not go
far enough to encourage booster doses.
The United States could face a major wave of
COVID-19 cases this winter, Topol said, and
protection is now waning.
"We're sitting ducks," he said
The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr.
Anthony Fauci, said this week that boosters,
along with increasing overall vaccination,
should help the country move beyond the worst of
the pandemic in the coming months.
The FDA said its decision was supported by data
showing that a third round of shots increased
the immune response to the virus in studies of
both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.
 Some scientists remain concerned about rare
cases of heart inflammation in young men
following vaccination, particularly for
recipients of Moderna's vaccine. Data from
Israel suggested the rate of heart inflammation
following a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine is
lower than after a second dose.
The Biden administration first proposed boosters
for everyone in August, but has made them
available in stages as health experts argued
there was not enough data to support the need
for further vaccination in all groups.
More than 32 million Americans have received
boosters, which had been authorized for the
immunocompromised, those aged 65 and above, and
for individuals with health issues that put them
at high risk of severe disease, including
obesity, or who are regularly exposed to the
virus through work or living conditions.
Nearly 60% of adult Americans - some 195.7
million people - are considered fully
vaccinated, having received two doses of either
the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or one
shot of J&J's vaccine.
(Reporting by Michael Erman in New Jersey and
Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; additional reporting
by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru and Julie
Steenhuysen in Chicago; writing by Caroline
Humer; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Leslie Adler)
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